


The Truth About Unicorns

by Aneiria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enthusiastic Consent, Forbidden Forest, Friends to Lovers, Hogwarts, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Magical Creatures, Potions Professor Draco, Professor AU, Smut, Smut and Fluff, Unicorns, astronomy professor theo, small mention of struggling to come to terms with sexuality, wizarding folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:46:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28361136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aneiria/pseuds/Aneiria
Summary: Theo Nott has a secret, one he's kept since he was a student at Hogwarts.It won't be long until fellow professor and life-long friend Draco Malfoy learns what it is...
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott
Comments: 15
Kudos: 72





	The Truth About Unicorns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FangQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangQueen/gifts).



> Gifted to the wonderful Fangqueen, who I know loves this pairing as much as I do 💖 It was great getting to know you last year, thank you for all the fun and fic recs!

Draco sighed in frustration, bottles clinking beneath his hands as he rummaged through his cupboards. He was sure he had some left, tucked away at the back maybe? He pulled out a dusty packet of lacewing flies and a jar of pickled newt eyes, but it was no good. The vial he kept his unicorn hair in was empty.

‘Everything all right, Draco?’

At the sound of the familiar voice, rich and smooth like Firewhisky, Draco pushed his jars back in place and turned around.

Theo Nott smiled back at him, a stack of parchment in his arms, the robes billowing around his body the same deep sapphire blue as his eyes. Tall and dark-haired, with lean muscles and high cheekbones and a mind as bright as the stars themselves, Theo had remained one of Draco’s closest friends, even before they came back to Hogwarts as professors. He’d clearly been on the way back from his dungeon classroom, where he taught theoretical astronomy during the day, passing Draco in his store cupboard.

‘Run out of unicorn hair,’ Draco replied, closing the door to his cupboard. ‘It’s a complete pain to get hold of as well.’

Theo’s beautiful eyes widened, innocent and blue. ‘There are plenty in the Forbidden Forest,’ he replied. ‘You must remember from when we were students, that lesson with Hagrid.’

Draco smiled at his old friend. They were both in their second year of teaching at Hogwarts now, only a few years after finishing their N.E.W.T.s. He started to walk down the hallway, towards the professor’s dorms, and Theo followed him. It was Friday evening, the last lessons of the week complete. The students had already hurried back to their own common rooms, ready for the weekend, and the halls of Hogwarts were empty.

‘There are some unicorns in the forest, yes,’ Draco agreed. ‘But it’s not that simple. You can’t just walk up to a unicorn and pluck a few hairs.’

Theo was silent for a few moments, and Draco could practically hear him thinking. ‘Why not?’ he finally asked, in a puzzled voice.

Draco sighed. ‘Well, because of the virgin thing, of course.’

Everyone knew how it worked with unicorns. They preferred the presence of girls, but were calm enough around boys. As long as you were a virgin, and you were gentle, a unicorn would welcome your touch.

For someone like Draco…

Well. Those days were long behind him.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts he barely noticed Theo falter very slightly by his side.

’The… virgin thing?’ Theo repeated quietly, and Draco nodded, still distracted by his thoughts.

‘Yes, if I want to personally restock my unicorn hair supply I’d have to find a willing virgin to help, and I don’t think McGonagall would take kindly to her Potions professor asking around his older female students whether they’re still… _virgo intacta_ ,’ he finished with a wry grin. ‘I’ll just write to Mr Mulpepper in Diagon Alley and see if he has any in stock. Pippin’s in Hogsmeade never has any.’

Theo murmured, non-committal, at his side. ‘What do you even need unicorn hair for, anyway?’

They’d climbed two sets of stairs, reached the wing that housed the professor dorms just before the second staircase swung around to a different hallway. Draco and Theo, being the newest members of staff, had neighbouring rooms. Draco’s was small and basic, just a bed, a hearth, a bathroom and a tiny study, but it did the job. If he wanted to work properly he just went back to his dungeon where his cauldron was set up. He suspected Theo’s room was similar, and barely heard him moving around next door. He spent most of his evenings in the astronomy tower, either with a class or by himself, carrying out whatever research he was working on at the time.

Draco hesitated outside his door, Theo watching him with interest, still clutching his parchment to his chest. Draco could just make out some of the planetary symbols drawn onto them: Theo must have been teaching his class how to draw up star charts.

‘It’s a new potion I’ve been working on,’ Draco finally admitted, not looking Theo in the eye. ‘Actually, an advanced Wolfsbane Potion. I think adding the unicorn hair will negate a lot of the harmful side effects, I just need enough to experiment with to get the ratios right.’

When he looked up again, Theo was watching him with a mixture of adoration and admiration. Draco felt his cheeks heat slightly under Theo’s scrutiny, and he gave an awkward little shrug.

‘Do you want to - I mean, do you fancy a drink, maybe? I have a new vintage Firewhisky that Blaise sent me from Japan.’

Theo shook his head, but his expression was regretful.

‘I have to head straight back up to my office, actually,’ he said, taking a small step back. ‘Maybe next time?’

Draco nodded, disappointed, already turning to his own door as Theo opened his.

* * *

Theo felt like a bumbling idiot.

To be fair, when he was around Draco, he often felt like a bumbling idiot. He’d always had a bit of a crush on his friend back when they were at Hogwarts together, and Draco had only grown into his looks as he hit his twenties. Not to mention his wickedly clever mind. Theo had always been attracted to intelligence, and prided himself - most days - on possessing a sharp mind himself.

But today, now, Theo felt like the biggest bumbling idiot in all of wizarding Britain.

He dropped his parchments onto his desk in his pokey room, the messy scribbles of student star charts papering the tabletop. For a moment he stared down at them, his mind blank, and then he heard the running water from the room next to his. Draco must be having a shower. Thinking it over for only a second, Theo grabbed his scarf, tightened his robes around himself, and left his room again.

The grounds of the castle were pretty empty as Theo made his way outside. Dinner was in full swing in the great hall, and most students were already inside and eating. He saw Professor Longbottom pottering around in Greenhouse Five as he passed, and lifted a hand in greeting. Neville spotted him through the window and waved back with a cheery smile. Neville had gone out of his way to make Theo and Draco feel welcome when they first started, and he and Theo still often hung out together.

The Forbidden Forest loomed as dark and threatening as it always did, even in the early evening sunshine. Undeterred, Theo entered the tree-line.

He’d been visiting the Forest alone since he was a teenager, after all.

At first it was to visit the thestrals. Theo had always liked them, and always felt an affinity for them. Invisible to most, gentle but feared, always associated with death and sadness. During the second war, when his father was operating under the Dark Lord, Theo found himself visiting the thestrals more and more.

And during one of those visits, he’d seen _them_ for the first time. 

Theo picked his way through the undergrowth, being careful not to disturb any nests or dens. The clearing was close, but as he approached it he slowed down a little.

He felt the prickling at the back of his neck, the feeling of being watched.

He drew his wand in a second, spinning on the spot and aiming his wand down the path to find… nothing.

The forest behind him was empty.

He stood for a few moments longer, watching carefully, before lowering his wand again. It could have been anything, he reasoned with himself. An owl, a fox…

 _An acromantula_ , his treacherous mind whispered. He shook himself off and hurried towards the clearing, not letting thoughts of giant man-eating spiders back into his head.

The clearing was empty, but Theo waited patiently. They would come.

They always came to him.

Sure enough, after a few minutes of waiting, they started to appear. They were pale and ghostly, stepping cautiously forward from the trees.

‘Hello,’ Theo said simply, holding out his hand in greeting.

One of the unicorns snorted softly and stepped forward, lowering its head and rubbing its velvety nose across his palm. Gently, Theo reached up to pat its neck and then scratch it behind the ears. The unicorn’s silvery mane was as soft as acromantula silk beneath his hand, and he hesitated as it shimmered, silvery white like the moon.

Until his talk with Draco, Theo had no idea that unicorns only approached virgins.

And he’d almost admitted it to Draco, his oldest friend and oldest crush.

Idiot. Bumbling _idiot_.

Another of the unicorns came up to him, so close he could see the silvery threads running through the spiral of its horn. He rubbed its forehead, smiling as its eyes closed in pleasure.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t _wanted_ to lose his virginity, after all. It had just been so difficult.

Being gay, as the only male heir from a pureblood wizarding family, was worse than being a blood-traitor for most families. It had taken an entire war to be fought, and his father to be safely locked up in Azkaban for the rest of his life, for Theo to feel able to come out, at least to his closest friends.

And even then, the son of a Death Eater was no prize.

It had been a relief, coming back to Hogwarts. He relished the peace - well, what peace there was beyond the chaos of teaching boisterous children and teenagers. The security, and being in the quiet Scottish air once again, all made Theo feel more grounded than he had in years.

And then the unicorns had come back to him, and there was beauty in his life once more.

As his mind was wandering, the unicorns in front of him all froze, looking at a point beyond him in unison. Theo felt his heart stutter in alarm, and his fingers trailed over his wand, stowed away in the pocket of his robes, as he slowly turned.

Draco was standing at the edge of the clearing, watching him silently.

* * *

Draco wasn’t entirely surprised to find Theo surrounded by a herd of unicorns.

He watched from the shadows, long enough to see how the tension in Theo’s shoulders melted away as the first unicorn approached. To see how his face relaxed into an open, genuine smile as his fingers touched the silvery coat with the same soft reverence that Draco wanted to stroke Theo’s skin with.

When he took a hesitant step forward, not yet sure if he wanted to reveal himself, but desperate to drink in more of the sight of _Theo_ , happy and relaxed, the unicorns had sensed him.

Draco watched as Theo turned, slowly, the tension creeping back into his body. Draco saw Theo’s hand slide beneath his robes and knew he was hovering over his wand. They’d perfected the unobtrusive move during seventh year, when some of the braver DA members would attempt to curse them in the hallways between classes. Catching sight of Draco, Theo’s hand over his wand steadied, but his whole body froze as still as the unicorns.

‘Theo,’ Draco said, as he took another small step forward. The unicorns all turned away as he approached, ambling in the opposite direction towards the tree-line. They paused there, looking back at Theo and Draco.

Theo stood alone, in the shadows of twilight now the soft glow of the unicorn herd had left him. ‘I’m sorry - I didn’t mean to spy, or anything, I just-’ Here Draco paused, running a hand through his hair in discomfort.

Theo, being one of his oldest friends, of course recognised his tell. Theo smiled and shrugged lightly. ‘It’s okay. I’m in the middle of a forest, it’s not like I’m locked away in my room.’

Draco walked over to Theo, and they both watched the unicorn herd, still milling around the tree-line, watching Draco with suspicion in their black eyes.

‘You didn’t know, did you?’ Draco asked quietly. He’d been so thoughtless, just blurting out that stuff about unicorns earlier.

He felt Theo shift next to him. ‘About unicorns and virgins?’ Theo asked with a forced lightness to his voice. Draco didn’t have to be a Legilimens to recognise the pain behind Theo’s words. ‘No, I didn’t.’

‘Why did you never tell me?’ Draco asked, as Theo sighed and looked to the ground.

‘Oh sure,’ he said with a forced, tight laugh. ‘First I tell you I’m gay and then I cry to you about how no other guy wants to date a Death Eater’s son?’

Draco’s heart beat a desperate tattoo in his chest, and he knew this was his chance. His chance to be brave, like his blasted Gryffindor students who would willingly add new ingredients to potions just to see what would happen.

He took a deep breath.

‘I would.’

There was silence, and a tension in the air.

‘What?’ Theo replied, his voice hoarse with surprise.

Draco steeled himself and turned to face Theo. Theo was already staring at him with those wide blue eyes. Draco smiled and shrugged. ‘I’d like to date you. I have done for years, really, I just… I thought you didn’t really want a relationship.’

Theo stared a little longer, his face a maelstrom of emotions. The unicorns still watched from the trees.

‘Draco, please, don’t say this if you don’t mean it.’ Theo’s eyes were so full of hope and pain, interlaced as if they’d never existed independently before.

Draco took another step forward, into Theo’s space, so their chests were inches apart and when Draco breathed in her could smell the warm, familiar scent of Theo.

‘Theodore,’ he said with a smile, gazing into his eyes. ‘May I kiss you?’

Theo blinked, his eyebrows raising, as his hand twitched by his side. From the edge of the clearing, one of the unicorns made a small snuffling sound.

Draco waited, patiently.

He felt like he could wait a lifetime for Theo.

Theo’s eyes softened and his hand finally moved, resting on Draco’s waist. He nodded, minutely, and whispered _yes_.

Draco placed his own hands around Theo’s ribs, feeling the bumps of his bones beneath his robes. He’d always been tall, skinny and lean like a hunting dog. He fingered the lines of his body and stepped closer still, seeking out Theo’s mouth with his own lips.

Theo’s lips were soft and cautious against his, as delicious as Draco had always imagined. As Theo’s fingers curled into the material at his waist, Draco licked against Theo’s lips and, when he opened his mouth beneath his, claimed him completely.

When they broke apart again, with Draco’s fingers tangled in Theo’s thick, dark hair, and Theo’s hands curled in Draco’s soft jumper, they were breathless and silent for a few moments.

‘Draco,’ Theo said, his voice weak, his forehead dropping to meet Draco’s.

‘Mhmm,’ Draco murmured in reply, tilting his head slightly so he could press a kiss onto Theo’s cheekbone.

‘I don’t - I mean, I _do_ want, but also, I’m… scared, I suppose, and-’

‘Theo.’ Draco pulled his head back and stopped Theo’s ramblings with a kiss. ‘You don’t need to be scared. I’m not going to hurt you,’ Draco reassured him, and Theo’s expression clouded with confusion before a glint of understanding appeared in his eyes.

‘Oh, no, that’s not what I meant,’ he said hastily, and Draco raised an eyebrow at him but waited patiently. ‘It’s just that I’ve been visiting the unicorns since back in sixth year,’ Theo explained, half-turning to wave at the gathered unicorns at his back. ‘Even when things were really tough, and I had no-one to talk to, they’ve been here.’

‘Oh, Theo.’ Draco’s heart broke for his sweet, kind friend. The one he’d been in love with since they were kids, but apparently too caught up in his own hardships to noticed he’d been suffering too. ‘I’m always here for you to talk to, any time, okay?’

Theo smiled a sad little smile and nodded, but his eyes shifted away again.

Draco knew what he was really saying. To lose his virginity would be to lose his unicorns. Draco thought back to the old Latin texts he’d been reading about unicorns, back when he first thought the creatures may have a positive effect on the Wolfsbane potion.

‘I don’t think it’s virginity in the literal sense, anyway,’ Draco said, his voice hoarse. ‘I think the old texts on unicorns can be translated more as _innocence_. And you, Theo,’ Draco added, gently grasping Theo’s jaw in his hands and holding his face up, looking into those wide, hopeful eyes. ‘You are the most innocent person I know.’

He said it seriously, _meant_ it seriously. Even during the war, through the darkest of days, Theo had never lost that spark. Like Promethean fire, it lived on inside him, the hope and belief that better days were coming, that there was an indefatigable _goodness_ about the world.

‘My father was a Death Eater, and my mother died giving birth to me,’ Theo said softly, his eyes sad. ‘How can you believe that of me, Draco?’

How? Because the innocence _burned_ in him.

In the way the unicorns watched him, even now.

‘I just know, Theo,’ Draco said, keeping his voice firm and sure. He nuzzled back against Theo’s neck, reaching down to take Theo’s hands in his. ‘But regardless, if you decide you don’t want… anything to happen, between us - I’ll never push you. We never have to do anything you don’t want to. Just being able to hold you, and to call you mine, is all I’ve ever wanted.’

Theo closed his eyes as they began to glitter with unshed tears, and the unicorns watched silently from the trees as Draco leaned in and kissed him once more.

* * *

Theo paced back and forth outside the door to Draco’s room.

A whole month had passed since the forest. A whole month since their first kiss.

It hadn’t been their last kiss.

Every spare moment they had in the following weeks found them pushed up against each other, bodies rubbing and fingers searching and lips kissing until they were bruised and breathless. In Draco’s potions dungeon, in Theo’s astronomy tower, in alcoves and broom cupboards and even once, memorably, in the back of the Three Broomsticks, a notice-me-not charm cast over them to hide them from all but the most prying of eyes.

True to his word, Draco had not pushed him beyond kissing. Even as Theo burned for him, ached for him, and Draco must have felt the same, he’s simply smile and wish him good night and kiss him sweetly outside his dorm before turning to his own room.

Theo had never wanked so much in his life, his cock in his hand and Draco’s name whispered reverently on his lips.

He’d also visited the unicorns, every single evening. He ran his hands over their silvery coats, traced his fingers down the spirals of their horns, stroked the velvety softness of their shimmering manes. He talked to them, as he always had, telling them of his thoughts and his feelings and his worries. They listened as silently as they ever had.

And now, he was here. Outside of Draco’s room on a Saturday evening, his breath stuttering and his palms sweaty and his heart beating painfully in his chest.

Before he could second guess himself, he knocked on Draco’s door.

‘It’s open!’ came the reply from within, and Theo pushed the door open and stumbled into the room.

Draco looked up from his study desk in surprise. He was dressed casually for the weekend, in dark Muggle jeans and a soft cashmere jumper. Most of the Purebloods had embraced Muggle fashion after the war, initially as an appeasement to those who thought they should be banned from society completely, and eventually due to a genuine respect for Muggle tailoring and design.

He looked delectable, with his icy-blond hair and his silver eyes flashing. Theo floundered, speechless, his mouth suddenly dry and empty of words. Draco got to his feet, a slow smile breaking across his face.

‘Hey, sweetheart,’ he said, kissing Theo gently. ‘Still want to go to the Three Broomsticks for dinner? I just need to finish up-’

‘I want you.’ Theo’s words finally tumbled out, inelegant and rushed, interrupting Draco’s sentence.

Draco frowned slightly, resting a hand on Theo’s arm. ‘We’ve been dating for a month, Theo,’ he said lightly. ‘You already have me.’

Theo contained the whine of frustration that threatened to escape him. ‘You know what I mean,’ he managed to growl instead, and Draco’s eyes darkened.

‘Theo-’ he started, but Theo shook his head, stopping him.

‘I’m ready, Draco,’ he said, and he meant it. He’d already said goodbye to the unicorns earlier on, just in case they never came back to him again.

Draco’s silver eyes were pained, and Theo could practically hear the thoughts tumbling through his head.

‘Are you sure?’ Draco asked, his voice desperate.

‘I’m sure,’ said Theo, and Draco stepped forward and took Theo’s jaw gently in his hands.

‘I am going to worship you, Theodore Nott,’ he said hoarsely, and as Theo’s body flared with desire at his words, Draco kissed him.

Blindly they stumbled back towards Draco’s bed, undressing each other in between kisses.

Draco was true to his word.

He laid Theo reverently down, stroking back his hair, dropping kisses all over his face, grazing his teeth along the vulnerable column of his neck. Only when Theo was desperate and begging did Draco finally grasp hold of his aching, leaking cock. He sat Theo on the side of the bed and sank to his knees before him, licking a tantalising stripe up Theo’s dick, making him shake and moan and gasp with pleasure, swallowing him down and watching him from under his dark, thick eyelashes.

When Theo was on the brink of orgasm, his hands tangled in Draco’s soft hair and his thighs trembling from the ministrations from Draco’s tongue and throat, Draco pulled his mouth away from Theo’s cock. Theo protested feebly, trying to force his dazed hands to pull Draco back, but he just licked his lips and gave Theo a wicked grin.

‘I have something else in mind, love,’ Draco said, standing up between Theo’s thighs. Theo gulped as he drank in the sight of Draco’s long, lean muscles, marble-white skin and gorgeous, straining cock in front of his eyes.

‘Anything,’ Theo whispered, willingly surrendering himself completely to Draco.

Draco pushed him back against the pillows, kissing him furiously, before whispering a lubrication spell and gently, infuriatingly slowly, opened Theo up with his fingers and tongue. Then he was above him, their bodies hot and hard against each other, his silver eyes looking down at him as his arms caged his head and chest.

‘Are you sure, Theo?’ Draco asked, seriously, his cock brushing against Theo’s.

‘Yes,’ Theo uttered, and Draco kissed him and pushed himself inside Theo, burning him alive, setting his nerves and his heart alight, and claiming both Theo’s body and his precious virginity.

Theo surrendered himself again, his body adrift in an endless starry sky, Draco in him and above him and around him, all he ever dreamed of.

Draco whispered to him, words of love and worship, and reached down to grasp Theo’s cock in his hand, stroking him as he thrust into him, over and over again. They came within moments of each other, crying each other’s names to the night, Theo’s come sticky over both their stomachs and chests.

Afterwards, as Theo’s mind floated slowly back down to earth, Draco pulled him close and kissed his hair.

‘I love you, Theo,’ he murmured, lips against skin, and Theo sighed happily.

* * *

‘I’ll come with you,’ Draco said, as he cradled Theo in his arms, naked and warm in his bed. Theo stirred, turning slightly so he could look up at Draco, a little puzzled frown between his eyes that Draco wanted to kiss away.

‘Come with me?’ he repeated sleepily.

Draco hid a smile. He never consciously used his skill in Legilimency, but with Theo he found he sometimes couldn’t help it. Whether it was because Draco was always paying so much attention to what Theo was saying and doing, or because Theo was an exceptionally noisy thinker, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that Theo had been thinking about unicorns and the Forbidden Forest for the last half an hour while they’d been cuddling under the duvet.

‘To see the unicorns,’ Draco said softly, making Theo shoot him a guilty look.

‘I don’t regret anything,’ he said hastily, and Draco tightened his arms around him.

‘I know,’ Draco reassured him. ‘But I also know you want to go and see them.’

Theo nuzzled up against his neck, his lips warm on Draco’s skin. ‘Thank you,’ he breathed against him.

They got up soon afterwards. As Draco went to wave his wand to clean Theo up, Theo smiled shyly and pushed his hand back down and made him leave it. It took Draco a moment and a strengthening of self-control to not throw Theo back down on the bed and take him again at that little revelation.

Instead they dressed, Draco wrapping his scarf around Theo’s neck and casting a warming charm over both of them, and headed out of the castle.

They sky was dark and heavy with a quarter moon, the faint silver glow casting dappled shadows among the trees. Draco pulled his robes closer around him as he and Theo walked in silence to the same spot Theo had been with the unicorns, the night they’d first kissed.

Draco hoped to Merlin, Salazar, and Hecate herself that he’d been right about the translations of the unicorn texts, no matter how much Theo professed to be fine about the whole thing.

They reached the clearing, and Draco hung back in the shadows of the tree-line like last time. He felt like his presence among Theo and the silvery-white unicorns sullied them, somehow. Theo might be innocence personified, but Draco was dark, stained, spoiled. Even Theo’s love could never change the things he’d done, the past that plagued him.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, watching Theo instead as he stepped forward into the clearing, his hands raised, palms up, like he was asking absolution from some long-forgotten god.

It only took a minute or so of waiting for the first unicorn to appear.

It came alone, a glowing white sentinel among the dark trees. Pausing at the edge, it regarded Theo carefully before taking a hesitant step forward. Theo stood still, waiting patiently, his body relaxed and his hands held out in offering.

The unicorn took another step forward, and then raised its head, nostrils flaring as it locked its inky black eyes onto Theo. Still Theo stood, relaxed and patient, even as Draco held his breath and tensed involuntarily.

The unicorn took another step forward and snorted, an uncertain sound in the still air.

Theo smiled and held his hand up.

The unicorn took a final step, and rubbed its nose against Theo’s palm.

Draco’s heart burst with happiness.


End file.
